Commentaries:
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
for peace—instead of the prosperity which I had previously.
great bitterness—literally, "bitterness to me, bitterness"; expressing intense emotion.
in love—literally, "attachment," such as joins one to another tenderly; "Thou hast been lovingly attached to me from the pit"; pregnant phrase for, Thy love has gone down to the pit, and drawn me out from it. The "pit" is here simply death, in Hezekiah's sense; realized in its fulness only in reference to the soul's redemption from hell by Jesus Christ (Isaiah 61:1), who went down to the pit for that purpose Himself (Psalms 88:4-6; Zechariah 9:11-12; Hebrews 13:20). "Sin" and sickness are connected (Psalms 103:3; compare Isaiah 53:4, with Matthew 8:17; Matthew 9:5-6), especially under the Old Testament dispensation of temporal sanctions; but even now, sickness, though not invariably arising from sin in individuals, is connected with it in the general moral view.
cast . . . behind back—consigned my sins to oblivion. The same phrase occurs (I Kings 14:9; Nehemiah 9:26; Psalms 50:17). Contrast Psalms 90:8, "Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance."
The second part of the song passes from prayer to thanksgiving at the prayer being heard.
What shall I say?—the language of one at a loss for words to express his sense of the unexpected deliverance.
both spoken . . . and . . . done it— (Numbers 23:19). Both promised and performed (I Thessalonians 5:24; Hebrews 10:23).
himself—No one else could have done it (Psalms 98:1).
go softly . . . in the bitterness—rather, "on account of the bitterness"; I will behave myself humbly in remembrance of my past sorrow and sickness from which I have been delivered by God's mercy (see I Kings 21:27, I Kings 21:29). In Psalms 42:4, the same Hebrew verb expresses the slow and solemn gait of one going up to the house of God; it is found nowhere else, hence ROSENMULLER explains it, "I will reverently attend the sacred festivals in the temple"; but this ellipsis would be harsh; rather metaphorically the word is transferred to a calm, solemn, and submissive walk of life.
The prayer and thanksgiving song of Hezekiah is only given here, not in the parallel passages of Second Kings and Second Chronicles. Isaiah 38:9 is the heading or inscription.
Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing Isaiah 38:17:
Job 33:24
Isaiah 35:10
Isaiah 38:19
Jonah 2:6
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